Top Tips

Eco-friendly office
Eco-friendly home


To make your office environment eco-friendly

Many eco-friendly actions are cost-effective too, below are some of our favourite suggestions:

  • Use energy efficient light bulbs.
  • Open blinds and turn off lights during the brightest part of the day.
  • When making tea/coffee only boil as much water as can fit in the mugs you are filling.
  • Buy locally produced milk for the office.
  • Eat and drink from re-useable plates, mugs and glasses.
  • Print on both sides of paper – format your printer to landscape A5 printing scale for super eco-friendly printing action, and only print documents that are absolutely necessary to have in hard copy.
  • Stock your office with recycled supplies – headed paper, business cards etc.
  • Consider paperless marketing products – Power Point presentations by email rather than printed documents by post for example.
  • Recycle all office generated paper products.
  • Encourage the recycling of plastic bottles, cans, newspapers and boxes.
  • Avoid cut flower displays and opt for potted indoor plants.
  • Keep your heating thermostat at 20 degrees.
  • Keep all electrical appliances switched off at the plug unless in use.
  • Switch off your computer tower, screen and speakers at the end of every day.
  • Only allow eco-friendly cleaning products to be used in your offices and staff facilities.
  • Replace standard paper hand towels with recycled towels or even better, replace hand towels altogether with energy efficient air dryers.
  • Promote lift sharing between staff and use of public transport for work related travel.
  • Set up a ‘cycle to work’ day once a week during the summer months with incentives for staff to join in.

    • Envirowise
    Throughout the development of the initiative Oxygen Event Services has been guided by the government’s Envirowise service. This has provided invaluable advice on how to realise a reduced environmental impact whilst remaining in compliance with legislation. If you or your company are interested in developing eco-ethical policies in your work environment this is a great place to start.

     

    To make your home eco-friendly

    Many eco-friendly actions are also cost-effective too, below are some of our favourite suggestions:

  • Use energy efficient light bulbs – they last 12 times longer than standard light bulbs and save money on your electricity bills.
  • Replace home appliances with thouse that have energy saving recommended logos – these use less energy to run and save you money too.
  • When making tea/coffee only boil as much water as can fit in the mugs you are filling.
  • Buy locally produced food.
  • Opt for products that use less packaging.
  • Eat and drink from re-useable plates, mugs and glasses.
  • Cook with lids on your pans – food will quick cook quicker, using less energy.
  • Use durable goods – long life shopping bags; reusable razors rather than disposable ones; reusable food containers rather than cling film, aluminium foil and sandwich bags etc.
  • Turn off lights and appliances when they are not in use – don’t leave anything on standby, with most appliances standby only uses 25% less energy than when the appliance is on!
  • Change your standard electricity supplier to a green electricity supplier.
  • Recycle everything you can!
  • Purchase recycled products – toilet paper, bin bags etc.
  • Replace paper kitchen towels with dishcloths and cloth napkins.
  • Buy eco-friendly cleaning products for your home and clothes.
  • Purchase organically made hair and bathroom products.
  • Keep the tap turned off when brushing your teeth and wash-up using a bowl instead of a running tap.
  • Avoid cut flower displays and opt for potted indoor plants.
  • Replace old windows with double glazing – this reduces heat loss by 50%.
  • Compost food and use on flower beds, instead of throwing old food in the bin.
  • Leave grass clippings on the lawn to nourish your garden, instead of filling bin bags which will be taken to a landfill site.
  • Buy a fuel efficient car.
  • Arrange to carpool for the school and work run.
  • Promote travel by bicycle – good exercise, family fun and great for the planet too.
  • Use ‘Freecycle’ a global, not-for-profit organisation that promotes waste reduction by giving and getting for free instead of always buying new!
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